Press Release, 19.01.2017

YABLOKO has appealed to the Supreme Court against the refusal of the Central Electoral Commission to deal with fraud cases detected in Tatarstan during the elections to the State Duma.

In November 2016, YABLOKO submitted a complaint to the Central Electoral Commission reporting stuffing of ballots and other violations at 40 polling stations in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. YABLOKO demanded from the Central Electoral Commission to establish a joint working group so that to study video recordings from the polling stations, pass information about violations to the Investigative Committee and apply to courts for recounting of votes at the polling stations with detected violations.

Thus, the video recordings demonstrate, for example, that members of Electoral Commission No 174 help to unidentified persons to stuff ballots in an unsealed ballot box at polling station No 380, and recordings from polling station No 87 show that surveillance cameras recording the situation by the ballot boxes were blocked for nearly three minutes.

However, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) refused to examine these and other evidence of fraud and bring to justice the members of electoral commissions in charge of the fraud. In late December, YABLOKO received a letter signed by Maya Grishina, Secretary of the Central Electoral Commission, where she reported that there were no reasons for any remedial actions on behalf of the CEC.

“The answer shows that the CEC was not guided by the principles it stated at the beginning of the election campaign in 2016 when considering such appeals, when CEC had promised that it would spare no effort so that make the elections fair. It is ridiculous to read such CEC’ arguments, because it was the CEC which determined the procedure and requirements to video recordings at the polling stations. Why did they regulate this issue then, if the data are not taken into account? This suggests that it is only an imitation of activity to ensure the legitimacy of the elections in the meaning the CEC puts into it, rather than ensuring that the elections are fair. And this legitimacy is much separated from fairness. This could be qualified only as the inaction of the CEC. Realising its responsibility before the electorate, YABLOKO considered it a matter of honor to go to court,” YABLOKO Chair Emilia Slabunova said.

Refusing to examine the complaint at its meeting and not taking appropriate action on it, the CEC violated the law “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights,” runs YABLOKO lawsuit sent to the Supreme Court.

YABLOKO asked the Supreme Court to oblige the CEC to examine party complaint lodged in November.

YABLOKO did not recognise the results of elections to the State Duma. According to YABLOKO, due to deliberate policies of the authorities targeted at discouraging citizens’ participation in the elections, most of the voters really neglected the election. For the first time in the Russian history, the State Duma was formed by a clear minority of the population, so it does not represent the Russian society. Manipulation with the turnout, mass-scale forced voting and direct falsification during the vote count and drawing of voting protocols do not allow to recognize these elections fair and legitimate.

YABLOKO challenged the results of elections in the State Duma of the Supreme Court of Russia. YABLOKO’s appeal stated that violations and shortcomings in the organisation of the election campaign on behalf of the electoral commissions, made it impossible to determine the real will of the voters.